The entire area has been logged extensively in the early part of the 20th century, but a few scattered old growth trees remain.

This fortification is known as Chain Lake Position - Locality 2 [2] The lands were part of Halifax's old water supply system.

In the years leading up to the 1977 commissioning of the new Pockwock water supply system, concern began to mount over the fate of the old watershed lands, which were considered to have high ecological and recreational value.

[1] Long Lake Provincial Park was formally created by Order in Council (OIC) 84-1189 on October 9, 1984, comprising part of the old watershed lands.

Long Lake has been designated by the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables as a "conservation-oriented" provincial park and can be viewed as an "urban wilderness", even though much of its area has been altered by previous human activities and uses.

This is in contrast to an aborted early plan to develop a resort area and artificial beach on the west side of Long Lake.

An abandoned roadbed stretching part of the way between Long Lake and the Old Sambro Road is a residue of this earlier plan.

Extensive erosion along part of this roadbed has resulted in a strip of exposed bedrock which has been dubbed the "scar road" and is easily visible from the air.

Long Lake Provincial Park is bordered by the Old Sambro Road on the east, Dunbrack Street (formerly Northwest Arm Drive) on the NE, Watershed Commission lands bisected by the St. Margaret's Bay Rd.

Today, the resulting Spruce Hill Lake is 102 hectares (250 acres) large, and has a maximum depth of 12 metres.

As mentioned elsewhere in the article, many of the more often used trails suffer from extensive erosion, and some have become quite wide because of people avoiding wet areas or creating short-cuts.

In the large southern region of the park, extensive damage has been done by all-terrain vehicles, especially in boggy areas and along trails.

Resourcetec subcontracted the work to Scott and Stewart Forestry Consultants, who accidentally cut down trees on Crown land.

In response to this incident, provincial fines against illegal cutting on Crown land were significantly increased in November 2016.

As with most parts of Nova Scotia, large, old white pines dot the park, being left over from the logging which most areas underwent before their designation as watershed lands.

The park's fauna is healthy and varied and includes many deer, the occasional moose, multitudes of squirrels, snowshoe hares, foxes, bobcats, chipmunks, three or four species of frogs and salamanders, many fish and bird species, beavers (who have extensively altered portions of the park), muskrats, snakes and others.